Hacker News with Generative AI: Legal Cases

Defending Software Freedom against Apple at the EU's highest court [video] (fosdem.org)
Apple is one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. Its unbalanced power spans over software and devices, trapping end-users and developers in tight lock-ins. This approach has prevented Free Software to flourish in environments controlled by Apple.
Plaintiffs cited 9 total cases The problem with these cases is that none exist [pdf] (courtlistener.com)
Meta torrented & seeded 81.7 TB dataset containing copyrighted data (arstechnica.com)
Newly unsealed emails allegedly provide the "most damning evidence" yet against Meta in a copyright case raised by book authors alleging that Meta illegally trained its AI models on pirated books.
"Torrenting from a corporate laptop doesn't feel right": Meta emails unsealed (arstechnica.com)
Meta's alleged torrenting and seeding of pirated books complicates copyright case.
AI Expert's Testimony Collapses over Fake AI Citations (forbes.com)
In a twist that perfectly encapsulates the risks of artificial intelligence in the courtroom, on Jan. 10th, a Stanford professor hired as an expert witness in a lawsuit about AI-generated deepfakes had his testimony thrown out after it was revealed that AI itself had hallucinated citations in his court filing.
Meta lawyer Mark Lemley quits AI case citing Zuckerberg 'descent' (bloomberglaw.com)
California attorney Mark Lemley dropped Meta Platforms Inc. as a client in a high-profile copyright case because of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “descent into toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness,” the Stanford University professor said on LinkedIn.
EFF Sides with Cox to Protect Piracy-Accused Internet Users from Copyright Troll (torrentfreak.com)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has got involved in a lawsuit between several movie companies and ISP Cox, who disagree over the use of DMCA subpoenas to identify alleged pirates. The EFF argues this could be abused by "copyright trolls" to target innocent users. They urge the court to require a full lawsuit with judicial oversight.
EU court fines European Commission for breaching its own data privacy laws [pdf] (europa.eu)
TikTok should lose its big Supreme Court case (vox.com)
The Supreme Court case asking if the government can ban TikTok is easier than it looks.
Man who claims he invented Bitcoin faces prison after filing $1.1T suit (arstechnica.com)
Craig Wright, the man who claims he invented bitcoin and has been filing lawsuits asserting intellectual property rights, was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday for committing contempt of court.
Our remedies proposal in DOJ's search distribution case (google)
We will appeal the Court’s decision but the process requires that we first file proposed remedies. This is a case about contracts. Antitrust law is clear that remedies should be directed to those contracts, unlike DOJ’s overbroad proposal.
End of Hachette vs. Internet Archive (archive.org)
While we are deeply disappointed with the Second Circuit’s opinion in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the Internet Archive has decided not to pursue Supreme Court review.
End of Hachette v. Internet Archive (archive.org)
While we are deeply disappointed with the Second Circuit’s opinion in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the Internet Archive has decided not to pursue Supreme Court review.
Core copyright violation moves ahead in The Intercept's lawsuit against OpenAI (niemanlab.org)
Last week, a New York federal judge ruled a key copyright violation claim by The Intercept against OpenAI would move ahead in court.
Supreme Court to review 5th Circuit ruling that upends Universal Service Fund (arstechnica.com)
The US Supreme Court will hear appeals of a 5th Circuit ruling that called Universal Service fees on phone bills an illegal tax.
Supreme Court allows multibillion-dollar class action to proceed against Meta (apnews.com)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing a multibillion-dollar class action investors’ lawsuit to proceed against Facebook parent Meta, stemming from the privacy scandal involving the Cambridge Analytica political consulting firm.
Woman Fired for Refusing Covid Vaccine Wins Record $12M (newsweek.com)
A federal jury in Detroit awarded more than $12 million Friday to a former Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) employee who was terminated after declining to get a COVID-19 vaccination, citing religious discrimination.
Laion wins copyright infringement lawsuit in German court (technollama.co.uk)
Copyright AI nerds have been eagerly awaiting a decision in the German case of Kneschke v LAION (previous blog post about the case here), and yesterday we got a ruling (text of the decision in German here, courtesy of Mirko Brüß). In short, LAION was successful in its defence against claims for copyright infringement.
Court grants WP Engine's motion to shorten time [pdf] (courtlistener.com)
WP Engine's motion for preliminary injunction [pdf] (courtlistener.com)
Google LLC vs. Oracle America, Inc (wikipedia.org)
Jenniffer Westmoreland (Plaintiff) vs. Matt Mullenweg (Defendant) [pdf] (2022) (freewp.com)
Couple in an Uber crash can't sue because of an Uber Eats order (ctvnews.ca)
A married New Jersey couple that was in a severe accident during an Uber ride can’t sue the company because they and their daughter agreed to arbitration when they accepted the terms of service for a separate Uber Eats order, a court has ruled.
US couple blocked from suing Uber after crash say daughter agreed to Uber terms (theguardian.com)
A New Jersey couple seriously injured when their Uber driver ran a red light and collided with another car has lost a bid to take legal action against the company in court.
Internet Archive Responds to Appellate Opinion in Hachette vs. Internet Archive (archive.org)
We are disappointed in today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are available electronically elsewhere. We are reviewing the court’s opinion and will continue to defend the rights of libraries to own, lend, and preserve books.
Internet Archive has lost its appeal in Hachette vs. Internet Archive (poast.org)
The Internet Archive has lost its appeal in Hachette vs. Internet Archive (courtlistener.com)
Court Denies Cheat Seller AimJunkies a New Trial, Affirms Bungie's $4.3M Win (torrentfreak.com)
Judge who owns Tesla stock greenlights X lawsuit against critics (theverge.com)
Appeals court revives TikTok 'blackout challenge' death suit (theregister.com)